1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to masonry, and more particularly to insulating building blocks used in the masonry field.
2. Background of the Invention
The present invention is aimed at improving upon the insulated building block disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,249 to Nickerson (“'249”). '249 discloses a two web concrete block having an insulation insert placed within the core of the block to provide thermal insulation over the face of the block except where the cross-ties or webs are located. The insulation insert disclosed in '249 comprises two parts held together by plugs on one part and corresponding holes on the other part. Such a design allows the plug-bearing part to be pushed down against the hole-bearing part thereby causing the plugs to shear off and allowing the former plug-bearing part to slide down to ship lap an insulating insert located in a block located directly below.
The insulated building block disclosed in '249 has several design flaws. For example, the plug and hole design of the insulation insert prevents reuse of the insulation insert once the plugs are shorn off. That is, once the plugs are shorn off, the insulation insert is effectively a two-piece structure which is difficult to work with if there becomes a need to reinstall the insulation insert in a block while a wall is being constructed.
Additionally, the design of the block in '249 has the length of the block extended to protect the vertical edges of the insulation insert that were extended to interlock with the adjacent insulation insert. During packaging of the masonry units in large cubes of blocks, the extended pieces of the block are easily damaged, thereby causing the blocks to be rejected. Additionally, the insulation insert extends above the block at a top side thereof which causes the insulation insert to become crushed or broken.
Also, when water is forced against the face of a masonry wall built from masonry units disclosed in '249, the water can migrate through the outside face shell of the block. Once the water reaches the insulation insert, there is no direct path for the water to run out of the face shell, and the water, therefore, continues to build up in the block's face shell. This water build-up causes damage and negatively affects the physical appearance of the wall.
The physical design of the insulation insert disclosed in '249, in addition to the thickness of the face shell of the block, makes the masonry unit difficult to handle. Typically, a mason picks up a block by grabbing the web or face shell of the block. However, the location of the insulation insert relative to the block, as disclosed in '249, prevents the mason from extending his grip wide enough to safely handle the block.
Also, steel reinforced block walls oftentimes have vertical reinforcing rods or rebars placed in the core of the blocks. These rebars become part of the wall when concrete grout is poured around the rebars to bond them to the wall in a specific location. However, the height of the web of the block makes it difficult to control the flow of the grout. Currently, there is to no method of preventing the grout from flowing over the top of the web into a core that is not to be grouted.